On Sat, 18 Jun 2011 22:52:23 -0400, GeoLane at PTD dot NET
GeoLane at PTD dot NET wrote:

On Sat, 18 Jun 2011 15:19:00 +1000, "Why are people so cruel"
wrote:


stupid to the $1.7 trillion in US bonds OR the US will do something
silly and force the Chinese into a war like they did with the Japanese
in 1941.

Explain forcing the Japanese to attack us; that's a new one to me.

RWL

=====================
In 1941 the US, in cooperation with local producers such as
the Dutch East Indies, instituted an oil embargo [at that
time the US was a major oil exporter] as a response to
Japanese aggression against China. IMNSHO from Washing
ton's perspective this was not so much to start a war, but
rather to limit the capability of the Japanese war machine,
which it would have done, e.g. no av-gas and bunker-c for
their navy.

From post war records it appears that very considerable
internal Japanese discussions about abandoning the colonial
wars in Manchuria/China occurred, but Japan did not trust
the US, and would have been out of petroleum based fuels for
their navy in at most six months. Additionally a very large
amount of the raw materials required by their industries at
that time were obtained from Manchuria/China, so to
acquiesce to the US demands would mean the operational
destruction of not only their Navy, but the destruction of
their heavy industry which had been developed over the prior
20 years at enormous human and financial costs. Rather than
face certain ruin, the Japanese decided to roll the dice and
go out fighting, which resulted in December 7th.

http://www.iwm.org.uk/upload/package...rategic_bg.htm

http://www.theamericancause.org/patwhydidjapan.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attack_on_Pearl_Harbor
snip
The U.S. ceased oil exports to Japan in July 1941, following
Japanese expansion into French Indochina after the fall of
France, in part because of new American restrictions on
domestic oil consumption.[21] This in turn caused the
Japanese to proceed with plans to take the Dutch East
Indies, an oil-rich territory.[nb 4] The Japanese were faced
with the option of either withdrawing from China and losing
face or seizing and securing new sources of raw materials in
the resource-rich, European-controlled colonies of South
East Asia.
snip
Over the next several months, pilots trained, equipment was
adapted, and intelligence collected. Despite these
preparations, the attack plan was not approved by Emperor
Hirohito until November 5, after the third of four Imperial
Conferences called to consider the matter.[27] Final
authorization was not given by the emperor until December 1,
after a majority of Japanese leaders advised him the "Hull
Note" would "destroy the fruits of the China incident,
endanger Manchukuo and undermine Japanese control of Korea."
snip


--
Unka' George

"Gold is the money of kings,
silver is the money of gentlemen,
barter is the money of peasants,
but debt is the money of slaves"

-Norm Franz, "Money and Wealth in the New Millenium"